[6/15/17] Budget Negotiations Could Result In Reduction In Federal Money For Medicaid

Budget negotiations aren’t just underway in Olympia, but our nation’s capital as well. The Trump-supported rollback of the Affordable Care Act would reduce federal money that 31 states have relied on to extend Medicaid coverage. And Medicaid spending would fall from two percent of the economy to 1.7 percent in 2027 due to the reductions in Trump’s budget. A new report shows Medicaid is critical for providing rural children in Washington and across the country access to the care they need to stay healthy. Dan Langager reports ––

The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families finds 53 percent of children in rural parts of the Evergreen State are enrolled in Medicaid, compared with 38 percent in metro areas.

Between 2009 and 2015, Medicaid also helped reduce the rate of uninsured children in rural Washington by four percent.

Christine Tiddens, a member of the health care advocacy group Close the Gap, says the program is vitally important to rural Washingtonians.

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“…really get the care that they need.”

The number of children on Medicaid rose by six percentage points from 2009 to 2015 in the state.

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget and the U.S. House health care plan could change that, slashing more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid over the next decade.

Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, says the proposed cuts to Medicaid would have an outsized impact on rural communities, many of which are still struggling economically from the recession.